PRWeek understands that final-stage pitches for Fiat Group-owned brand, which had worked with Performance PR, concluded this week.

The pitch comes amid recent moves by the Fiat Group to relaunch Alfa Romeo on a global scale.

According to reports late last year, company documents point to a planned investment of €1bn through 2014.

This is set to include nine new models sold globally but in particular targeting the US, Canada and Mexico and the EMEA region, with the UK already established as a key market.

Alfa Romeo has been struggling for market share, with sales last year dropping to around 100,000 globally from 132,000 in 2011.

However, though he confirmed it was working on future models, earlier this summer Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said plans remained "top secret".

One agency figure with insight into the car market said that comms work for Alfa Romeo was likely to offer creative opportunities.

"As a brand it tries to compete with the major players, particularly in the UK, but they don’t necessarily have the same budgets as the big boys. However, reliability issues are long gone and it is a brand that still has Italian flair and can stand with the best of them in terms of quality, so they’re looking to get their voice heard. This means they’ll be more likely to be experimental with their comms and go for unusual activations that can get headlines."

Fiat Group earlier this year restructured its comms team, leading to the exit of its UK public relations director Peter Newton.

A spokesman for Alfa Romeo confirmed a consumer PR pitch had taken place, but declined to comment further.